The Mentor Who Teaches


This is a skill that the mentor may need to be taught, because being a really good teacher does not come naturally to many people. Highly ambitious, self-motivated people (and the description applies to most people who make it to top management) often lack the patience to teach. Yet the mentor must know how to help the mentee maximise his or her opportunities to learn. The mentor does this by creating a stimulating environment that consistently challenges the mentee to apply theory to the real world of management.

A mentor may teach his or her mentee using the following methods:

  • The mentor holds ‘what if?' sessions in which he or she guides the mentee in problem-solving discussions to encourage him or her to discover as many alternatives as possible.

  • The mentor discusses with the mentee real problems the mentor is currently dealing with or has recently dealt with. Rather than expand upon the cleverness of his or her own solutions, the mentor asks the mentee what course of action he or she would take. The mentor can often complete the analysis by telling the mentee the solutions he or she actually devised and why they were chosen. In this way, through mini internal case studies, the mentor gives the mentee an insight into decision-making in higher-level jobs.

  • The mentor plays devil's advocate. In a protective environment, the mentor teaches the mentee how to assert his or her opinions and influence the listener in difficult situations. The mentor plays aggressive and threatening roles so that the mentee learns to handle stressful and potentially explosive situations.

A vice-chairman in an advertising company was helped in his career by a senior executive in the corporation. This mentor invited opposition from his mentee and frequently acted in a domineering and brusque manner. The mentor's aim was to help develop in his mentee an aggressiveness that he considered was essential for success in that field. The vice-chairman comments:

Before I met my mentor I was not particularly forceful. However, when I talked to him I found I had the choice either to be chewed up or to assert myself. He constantly pushed me in these one-to-one confrontations so that now when I talk to a client I have developed a way of expressing my opinions with weight and force.




Everyone Needs a Mentor(c) Fostering Talent in Your Organisation
Everyone Needs a Mentor
ISBN: 1843980541
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 124

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